.jpg)
4 months ago
38
PROTECT YOUR DNA WITH QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY
Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by Adpathway
Photo Courtesy of Estée Lauder
Matte foundation is quietly slipping back into the beauty conversation, and honestly, it feels like the plot twist no one saw coming.
After years dominated by “glowy,” “luminous,” and “radiant” everything, the new trend is surprisingly… soft. Think cloud-like finishes, hazy blurring, and skin that looks filtered without looking flat.
A few years ago, matte was basically shorthand for dry and cakey, immediately transporting your makeup routine back to 2015. But today’s formulas? Completely different. Brands have figured out how to keep shine under control while still making skin feel hydrated, bouncy, and natural. It’s less “chalky matte” and more “your skin, but diffused.”
After weeks of testing, review-stalking, and wearing these launches through workdays, date nights, and terrible fluorescent lighting, we found eight standout formulas that nail the new soft-matte moment.
They’re smooth, shine-free, breathable, and genuinely fresh for 2025.
The Best Matte Foundations of 2025:
L'Oreal Paris Infallible Skin Ink 2-in-1 Foundation Concealer
Rating: 3.9/5 stars with 714 reviews.
Trade your full-coverage foundation for this dab-and-done matte concealer. It glides on with a big, easy applicator and gives that clean, seamless finish everyone pretends is natural.
Kylie Cosmetics Natural Blur Powder Foundation
Rating: 4.4/5 stars with 589 reviews.
The blurry-skin trend brought powder formulas back, and this one is honestly a star. It erases uneven tone, softens texture, and disappears into your skin in the best way possible.
Makeup by Mario SurrealSkin Natural Finish Foundation
Rating: 4.87/5 stars with 335 reviews.
This formula lives up to its natural-finish promise with a hydrating mix of glycerin, raspberry extract, and vitamin E. It feels insanely comfortable, builds to the matte level I want, and blends like a dream with a fluffy foundation brush.
MAC Cosmetics Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 24HR Matte Foundation
Rating: 4.1/5 stars with 1219 reviews.
This is hands-down the thinnest, lightest matte formula I’ve tested that still gives plenty of coverage. It blends into a soft-focus blur instantly, making your skin look filtered without feeling like anything’s on it.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Foundation
Rating: 4.2/5 stars with 322 reviews.
The Charlotte Tilbury foundation has full, creamy coverage that wipes out hyperpigmentation and acne like they never existed. It's my secret weapon when I need skin that looks professionally airbrushed.
Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional Blurring & Smoothing Foundation
Rating: 4.4/5 stars with 2,687 reviews.
When you want real makeup but none of the gloop, this Benefit foundation absolutely delivers. It’s full-coverage, featherlight, and stays dewy-fresh instead of greasy.
Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Liquid Makeup Foundation
Rating: 4.7/5 stars with 7,180 reviews.
Some formulas fade, but Double Wear stays locked in like it has somewhere important to be. Matte, long-wearing, and basically bulletproof, it’s still one of the best for oily skin.
Maybelline Super Stay Lumi-Matte Foundation
Rating: 4.3/5 stars with 2,755 reviews.
The O.G. Super Stay got us through chaos and acne, but the reboot is softer, lighter, and way more wearable. It gives medium coverage that builds beautifully without the old-school heaviness.
Looking for more deals? We found red light therapy masks up to $80 off for Amazon's Early Black Friday sale.
How We Choose
The E! Insider Shop editors and writers search the internet to find the best products out there. We interview expert sources, comb through customer reviews, and use our own personal experiences to make shopping easier for our readers.
As an editorial team, we independently create content and determine coverage based on research, reporting and what we think our readers would like to read about. The goal of our content is to provide a service and inform readers who are on the hunt for the latest products to help make their life better. Items are sold by retailer, not E!. Pricing and availability are accurate as of publish time.
English (US) ·